One of the most important parts of a lawnmower is the engine. The engine needs oil to lubricate the moving metal parts without getting struck. When the engine has insufficient oil, it leads to knocking, grinding sounds, and even makes engine failure.
On the other hand, if we use a lawnmower for more than 50 hours or over a long period, the old oil has to be replaced by new oil. The riding lawnmower has a 100 hours interval for changing old oil into new oil.
New oil can’t be added to the old one, so we have to drain the old oil from the engine. In this post, we will know how to drain oil from lawn mower.
A better time to change oil is, before winter, because in winter we won’t use the lawnmower frequently. Also at that time, it will make the combustion products like tars, carbon, sulfur, nitrogen settle out. Oil does several things like reducing friction, cooling, and lubrication of metal parts.
Maintenance of the machines takes a lot of work but if it saves you money and time you spent on repair then it will be worth doing the maintenance. Proper maintenance will lead to long machine life.
How to drain oil from lawn mower?
Each lawnmower has a slightly different way to drain oil. Here we are going to discover some common and acceptable methods for how to drain oil from lawn mower. Those methods are:
- Using dipstick tube
- Using drain plug
Before we move on to methods, these are some steps to do:
Step 1- Warming up
We have to warm up the engine for 5 to 10 minutes and turn it off. Because when in normal temperature viscosity of the oil will be higher, so it won’t be able to move freely. By running the machine, the oil’s temperature will increase, and when the temperature increases viscosity will decrease.
Step 2- Unplugging Spark Plug
After warming the engine make sure to disconnect the spark plug. For safety measures, this has to be done. It is crucial to disconnect the spark plug because we have to make sure that the engine won’t turn on accidentally. Now let’s go-to methods for how to drain oil from lawn mower.
Using Dipstick
This is the common method to drain the oil. We use a dipstick to know the level of oil. For this method, we use a dipstick tube to remove oil. We need rags, a drain pan to do this method. As mentioned above, make the oil warmer to finish processing draining quickly.
Locate the air filter and dipstick to find which direction to tilt the engine and place a drain pan in the correct place to avoid spilling.
Start with cleaning debris so it won’t enter the oil tank. Then make sure that you remove the spark plug from the plugin. Then place a drain pan next to the dipstick cap and then tilt the engine to the drain pan side and via the dipstick tube all oil will be removed.
While draining oil from the engine, avoid spilling in the other parts of the lawnmower. If excessive smoke comes from the engine then contact the dealer.
Note: Make sure the carburetor is pointed to the higher side, so that engine oil won’t enter into the carburetor or air filters.
Using Drain Plug
This method depends on the product we own because not all engines have drain plugs. So, check it through your user manual. If your mower has a drain plug, it will be placed in the lawnmower deck mostly.
Use the rag to clean debris from falling into the crankcase and for opening the drain plug you have to twist it counterclockwise. Move the blade slowly when removing the drain plug cap.
Now open the drain plug cap and place the drain pan to the mouth of the drain plug. Then collect the oil with the drain pan. Hold the mower for a little longer to drain the oil out as much as possible. After that, pour new oil into the engine through the funnel.
As mentioned above, don’t forget to warm the engine oil by running the engine for 5 to 10 minutes. This will make the oil less viscous and let it move freely. After draining, clean its oil filters.
There are some more ways to drain oils, like using oil extractors. There are many types of oil extractors in the market. You can buy them and use them for draining the oil.
These are the ways to drain the oil from the lawnmower. Make sure to do it by unplugging the spark plug from the plugin. Do not spill the old oil on the ground, because the oil is a hazardous chemical. Doing these maintenance works makes the engine work a little longer without getting repaired.